1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a process for cooling a web, and more particularly, pertains to a latent web cooling process and apparatus for cooling a web.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art devices have cooled via conduction or convection which could be either too fast or too slow causing undesirable capital expenditure in terms of cost and product quality problems, such as loss of gloss or generation of smoke from continued solvent evaporation.
The present invention overcomes the inadequacies of the prior art by cooling the web primarily via evaporation of liquid, rather than through conduction or convection, thereby allowing moisture availability to the web, which minimizes web shrinkage and fluting, and minimizes static electricity in the web. The web, in an offset dryer, is dried to as low as 2% moisture; and therefore, absorbs water from room air bringing its moisture level back to 4-6%. This is accomplished more readily in the presence of a more available water or other liquid source, such as the present invention provides.